25 May
After a week of peace and quiet Jan was disturbed yet
again by people trying to break in to the flat above us. I slept through it
this time and didn’t know anything about it until I had to go pee and she told
me about then. What amazes me is that this same two men haven’t learned that
whenever they try to get in ourselves and the lass opposite will phone for the
cops. Perhaps they have learned but just don’t care? I don’t know but I am
concerned as to how much effect it is having on Jan. We will both be happy when
the council have it all sorted up there. But there’s a draw back there too.
This is the second ground floor flat we have had. Our
first one was on the other side of town in a brand new block of eight flats. We
were the second family to move in. Slowly the other six were taken too and we
hoped that things would be OK for all of us – how silly of me! The couple above
us was a real mix of natures. She was OK, quiet and pleasant; he was loud and
obnoxious and really nosey. Opposite him was another mixed, but elderly couple.
The woman was fine, he was a real pain in arse!
He was OK until he didn’t get everything his way, like
not having kids playing outside on the grass. We wouldn’t stop our lad from
having his friends round to play and he hated that. Then two fire engines
turned up at the sheltered complex beside our block. It was a fire drill but
old George, he didn’t like that at all. He went out taking photos of the
fire-fighters and he too the prints to the council to complain. He got short
shrift that time!
Next we saw him walking around taking photos of the
kids playing. As with most kids, one look at the camera and they began posing
for it. When I saw it I didn’t pose at all, but I did warn him that if I saw or
found out about him taking photos of any kids again, let alone our son, I would
call the cops. George didn’t like that either. I was going out one time and I
heard him and Roy, they guy above me moaning about us because he had been threatened
with the cops. I closed out door and the conversation stopped. Mind you, I didn’t
help at that point by saying, ‘Go on the George, carry on. You’ll do so once I’m
out of the way anyway.’
George died just after he and his wife had been given
a place in sheltered housing somewhere. A few weeks later and another couple moved
in. They also seemed OK, to start with that is. They both worked and they left
together to head off for work, fine. But every night they went out drinking and
wouldn’t turn up quite the worse for the booze and making a lot of noise,
sometimes turned midnight!
The top and bottom of all this is that we just don’t
know who we will get above us next. Hopefully the council will have learned to
be more selective in who they allow up they there. Considering that the ground
floor flat are for elderly/ill/disabled people and are ‘support’ flats (that is
we have pull cords in every room to summon help 24 hours a day if we need it),
they will be more careful in who they allow in.
But even that is not so easy these. The council housing
allocation system has changed a lot over the years. The idea was to do away
with the so-called waiting list. The system not requires all applicants to look
at the properties that are made available every week and to ‘bid’ on them. A
computer program records those bids and a list is produced after the bids are
closed. The top name on the list is first offered the property … and so on.
Basically, the waiting list is still there but it’s got a new name now, that
all.
With this system then, in theory whoever is top of the
list will be offered the flat above us. How they are going to deal with this I
don’t know. More worrying to me is that the council is a slow learner. It could
take a long time for them to learn the lesson that is clear in this case, that
is, be careful who allow to live near to vulnerable people.
Yes, well … enough; it’s time for a photo …
Market shoppers
from a week ago yesterday.
And today’s funny …
I was
working in Manhattan, flying a sightseeing small aircraft. When the first group
of tourists arrived I asked them, “Have you ever flown on a small airplane
before?” “No!” They replied. So I took out a pack of gum and told them all to
take a piece to keep their ears from popping. After we landed, I asked everyone
if they enjoyed, and one Blonde lady comes over and asks, “That gum did
wonders, but how do I get it out of my ears?”
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